The National Interest (NI), which is considered the biggest bastion of the Republican Party and the hawkish wing of the army in the USA in the print media, made a striking comment about the ‘Altay’ tank. The phrase “attracts attention with its advanced protection system” was used for Altay, which was introduced with the phrase “one of the best in its class”.
Türkiye’S GREAT TANK FORCE
In the analysis article titled “Türkiye will become a great tank power with the Altay Main Battle Tank” published in NI “Signatures have been signed for the mass production of the Altay tank, which is considered one of the best in the world in the main battle tank class in Turkey. “The fact that the signature was made a year before the estimated time surprised the defense world.”
HIS NAME IS TURKISH HERO
While it was emphasized in the publication that Turkey has the largest tank fleet in Europe, it was also commented that an advanced modernization move was made with the Altay tanks. In the article, which included the information that the Altay tanks, which were introduced with the phrase “standing out with their advanced protection systems”, would be included in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory in 2024, the name of the tank was particularly noted and the following statements were made:
“Attracting attention with its 120 mm gun produced by Rheinmetall The name of the Altay tank bears the surname of General Fahrettin Altay, one of the heroes of the history of the Republic of Turkey. The person who gave his surname to the general is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the country and the Republic. General Altay is a national hero in Turkish history, known for the duties he undertook in the Çanakkale and Palestine fronts in World War I and later in Turkey’s War of Independence.”
ADVANCED FEATURES
In the article, which included information that the Turkish Land Forces have a large armored force with 2 thousand 622 tanks, the following features of Altay were emphasized:
“In addition to all the power and propulsion capability of the tank produced by BMC, its subsystems also have domestically produced equipment. The tank has a 12.7 mm (50 caliber) automatic firing system and can carry 40 shells for its main gun. Within the advanced protection system, it has a system that can protect the crew not only from conventional bullets but also from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks. It also has laser protection and battlefield target designation systems. Perhaps the most striking feature of the tank is that it has the ‘Spider’ 360-degree situational awareness platform produced by Aselsan.”
HAS EFFECTIVE CAPABILITY
The technical features of the Altay tank were introduced in NI, the leading publication of the USA, with the following words:
“Turkey’s new main battle tank has a crew of four: commander, driver, gunner and loader. It is in the Heavy Battle Tank class with its weight of 71 tons. On the other hand, Altay can demonstrate effective operation capability in an area of 500 km at a speed of 70 km.”
